


Stay With Me

by taxicab12



Series: more to me than you can dream [15]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pre-Canon, Wikipedia levels of historical accuracy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:48:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26280658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taxicab12/pseuds/taxicab12
Summary: “Crete, three summers from now?” Andy asked.Quynh nodded again.“Crete?” Nicolò asked.“Quynh wants to stay,” she said. “You are welcome to stay or go, but I’m getting out of this kingdom.”A small smile curved Nicolò’s lips, hardly even noticeable to anyone who didn’t know his face as well as Yusuf did.“We’re splitting up?” Yusuf asked, not smiling.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: more to me than you can dream [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878034
Comments: 28
Kudos: 324





	Stay With Me

It was a strange feeling, to feel snow fall on your internal organs, one Yusuf felt for the first time in Cheoin.

It was the third time he’d died that day; the first two had been easy to recover from, but that last one had been a truly impressive slice to his stomach, leaving him wide open to the world.

No one ever told you that your organs could be ticklish.

Andy found him when the battle was over, raising a brow at the blood colored snow around him. “You with us, Yusuf?”

He grinned up at her, a smile coated in blood. “Those Mongol sabres are awful things,” he said. “My insides will never get warm.”

She laughed and pulled him to his feet, not caring how the blood stained her hands. “Have you seen Quynh?”

“I’ve been a little busy.” He wiped his face. “Nicolò?”

“He was talking with some of the refugees.” She smiled.

Yusuf laughed. Of the four of them, only Quynh fluently spoke the Goryeo language. Andy spoke a little, while Yusuf and Nicolò spoke only what they’d been able to pick up in the last couple of weeks.

By the time they found Nicolò, Quynh had joined him, shaking her head with laughter as she translated. The men they spoke to seemed baffled by the pair, but most of them were smiling as well, if only out of politeness.

“You survived, then,” Quynh said in Arabic as they approached, smiling at this inside joke.

“That doesn’t get funnier the more you say it,” Nicolò said, but he smiled.

“They say the Mongols may withdraw altogether after this,” Quynh ignored him in favor of turning to Andy.

“We should go then,” Andy said. “We’ll be more hinderance than help when it comes to treaties.”

“I want to stay,” Quynh said. “Make sure there is peace.”

The two women looked at each other for a long moment, then each nodded.

“Crete, three summers from now?” Andy asked.

Quynh nodded again.

“Crete?” Nicolò asked.

“Islands are good meeting places,” Andy said. “Their borders can’t change.”

Nicolò raised a brow. 

“Quynh wants to stay,” she said. “You are welcome to stay or go, but I’m getting out of this kingdom.”

A small smile curved Nicolò’s lips, hardly even noticeable to anyone who didn’t know his face as well as Yusuf did.

“We’re splitting up?” Yusuf asked, not smiling.

Andy nodded. “We do once in a while. It can be good to have some time alone.”

He nodded, averting his eyes from his companions.

“I’ll head out in the morning,” she said, then switched languages to one Yusuf couldn’t even identify to speak with Quynh.

It didn’t really matter, he hardly would’ve listened anyway.

...

Nicolò was so warm that Yusuf pressed his face directly to the skin of his neck to keep warm.

At least, that was the excuse he had prepared for why he kept so close.

He pressed kisses wherever his lips fell, trying not to think that each one would be one of the last for years.

Nicolò shivered at this touch, but did not complain for several minutes, until finally he rolled over, pressing their foreheads together.

“You’re troubled,” he said. “Tell me, Yusuf.”

“I’m just cold,” Yusuf said. “I swear there’s still snow inside me.”

Nicolò laughed at this. “All your battle wounds and it is snow that hurts you the most?”

“I’m used to the heat.” He rolled on his back, not able to meet his lover’s eyes any longer. “Do you know where you will go now?”

For a moment, he didn’t respond, but then he laughed, leaning himself up on his elbow to see Yusuf’s face. “This is what has been bothering you, my love? Our separation?”

“Yes.” He tried to hide his blush, to no avail. “I’m having trouble imaging months without you.”

“I know exactly where I will go,” he said. “Wherever you go, Yusuf.”

“I...” he sat up. “Oh.”

“Out of words at last?” Nicolò teased, but then his face became solemn. “Why would I want to be without you?”

“You... you smiled when Andy and Quynh spoke of being alone for a while. I assumed it was what you wanted as well.”

“Yes,” he said. “I wanted time to be alone with  _ you_.”

Yusuf didn’t speak, didn’t have the words.

“I love you,” Nicolò said. “And while we would both be fine during such a separation, I will be far happier at your side than alone.”

“As will I.”

“Then stay with me,” Nicolò kissed him. “And I will not even complain when kissing you feels like kissing an icicle.”

Yusuf pressed half a dozen kisses to Nicolò on whatever skin he could reach, both of them giggling each time that Nicolò shivered at his touch.

“Why don’t we find somewhere peaceful and secluded...” Yusuf pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Take some time alone.”

“Where are you thinking?” He leaned in.

Yusuf laughed. “I don’t care, so long as it’s warmer. And with you.”

“Glad to know I’m secondary to temperature.” He rolled back over, pushing himself back onto Yusuf. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, my love.” Yusuf pressed one last kiss to his neck.

There would be many more in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> Goryeo was a kingdom on what is today the Korean Peninsula. The battle referenced is the Battle of Cheoin in 1232


End file.
